Voters Support Aggressive Moves on Economic Policy Ideas

Heavy machinery plows through farmland on June 12, 2014 for the construction of the U.S. Route 85 bypass around Watford City, N.D.

Associated Press

When it comes to the economy, voters place a much higher priority on ideas for economic growth than ideas for economic justice.

Economic fixes that specifically address the gap between the rich and poor do not resonate as strongly with voters as six other policy ideas. However, in a sign that voters are still looking for aggressive leadership on the economy in Washington, there is also broad, bipartisan support for many of the policy ideas tested.

The latest WSJ/NBC survey tested eight “different policies that some people say could help improve economic conditions in the country.” Respondents were asked if each one would have a positive impact, have no real impact, or have a negative impact.

All eight ideas tested more positively than negatively. However, the two weakest were increasing taxes on the richest one percent to reduce the amount of taxes paid by the middle class, and increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour.

Conversely, the two that are perceived as most likely to have a positive impact on economic conditions are providing tax incentives for companies to bring jobs back from other countries and making college more affordable by lowering the cost of student loans.

There appears to be some backlash to the income inequality messaging: rated as more positive than taxing the one percent or increasing the minimum wage are cutting regulations that add to the cost of doing business and keeping business taxes low and preventing any tax increase.

That does not mean Americans are going completely soft on the antibusiness populism of the post-recession days. The third most effective policy perceived by voters is increasing fines and seeking jail time for executives at financial institutions when they break the law.

Click on the graphic for a larger image. Data from WSJ/NBC News poll.

Key findings on the policy ideas:

There is a huge partisan spread on raising the minimum wage. Democrats say it is a positive by 82%-9%, while Republicans are far more skeptical at 38% positive/45% negative. Independents are guardedly positive, at 57%-31%.

Cutting regulations is viewed as a positive across party lines. While it is stronger with GOP voters at 81%-10%, it does well with Independents (72%-20%) and even with Democrats (60%-22%).

Republicans are for cracking down on business wrongdoing at nearly the same level as Democrats. There is only a nine point spread between the two groups on the impact of “increasing the fines and seeking jail time for executives at financial institutions when they break the law. . .” – 84% positive among Democrats, 75% positive among Republicans.

Making college more affordable with lower cost loans and more time and flexibility also crosses party lines. It is also particularly powerful among African Americans and Hispanics.

There is a huge gender gap on the impact of raising taxes on the one percent. While 54% of men say it will have a positive impact, that number lags opinion among women (74% positive impact) by 20 points.

Support for tax incentives for companies to bring jobs back from other countries has the smallest partisan and racial gap of the eight ideas tested. Whites, African Americans, Hispanics, Republicans, Democrats, and Independents all say this would have a positive impact at levels between 80% and 91%.

While Washington is having a difficult time reconciling the differences in policy ideas to fix the economy, American voters believe that moving forward on a series of policy prescriptions will do far more good than harm. Their support for these ideas underscore that Americans do not believe the economists who say the recession is over. This is echoed by the survey finding that 49% believe the country is still in an economic recession, and 64% say they are still being impacted by the recession by a lot or some.

The survey also reinforces that voters are more concerned with spurring economic growth than fighting economic inequality.

Glen Bolger, a leading Republican strategist and pollster, is a partner and co-founder of Public Opinion Strategies. The data is from Wall Street Journal/NBC polls conducted by Democratic pollster Fred Yang at Hart Research Associates and Republican pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies. Mr. Bolger is on Twitter: @posglen

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